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US given papers showing arafat terrorism ties { April 12 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/international/middleeast/12STRA.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/international/middleeast/12STRA.html
April 12, 2002
U.S. Is Given Papers That Israelis Assert Tie Arafat to Terror
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
ASHINGTON, April 11 — Israel has given the United States a cache of documents that Israeli officials say were captured in raids in the West Bank and establish that Yasir Arafat financed and oversaw terrorist attacks by Palestinian militants.
The documents were provided to Bush administration officials this week, apparently in an effort to reinforce Israel's contention that Mr. Arafat cannot be trusted and to blunt pressure from Washington for a halt to the Israeli military offensive.
The Israelis say the documents and other intelligence do more than draw a link to Mr. Arafat and his top lieutenants. They say they also show that elements of the Palestinian office of preventive security, which the United States has backed as a way to enhance the authority of moderate Palestinians and head off terrorist attacks, are also linked to suicide bombings.
A senior Israeli military official was careful not to assert that Jabril Rajoub, the leader of the office, had directed any attacks. But the official said that mortars and heavy machine guns, as well as yarmulkas and other disguises for suicide bombers, were found in his headquarters.
Palestinian officials have charged that the documents released by the Israelis are being taken out of context or are forgeries being used in an attempt to justify a military offensive in the West Bank that has drawn widespread criticism.
"No one can say they are 100 percent authentic," said Hassan Abdel Rahman, the Washington representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. "And in the past, Israel was able to take many expressions out of context and distort their meaning."
By providing copies of the documents in the original Arabic as well as in an English translation, to Bush administration officials and news organizations including The New York Times, the Israelis are in effect taking the position that careful scrutiny of the memos will establish their authenticity.
Key documents, Israeli officials said, were recovered at Mr. Arafat's headquarters. Some conveyed his orders, and others were appeals for funds from the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, which has taken responsibility for many suicide bombings.
"In the West Bank, the more we enter, the more we understand," the Israeli military official said. "This is coming directly from Arafat personally."
Spokesmen for the C.I.A. and the National Security Council refused to comment on the documents. Other American officials described Israel's decision to draw attention to the documents as a clear effort to win some measure of international support for its military offensive.
Some American officials also asserted that Israel had not previously made made a convincing case that Mr. Rajoub, whom the United States regards as a moderate, is linked to terrorism. But some American specialists argued that the Israelis were raising valid concerns about the broad support among Palestinian officials for bombing attacks, including by some elements at Mr. Rajoub's preventive security office.
"I think that it likely is part of the problem," said Walter P. Lang, the former head of the Middle East division for the Defense Intelligence Agency, referring to the preventive security office. "The idea was to create a new institution of government that would enable the Palestinians to eliminate their troublemakers. But the law of unforeseen consequences has come up again."
In pressing its case, the Israeli Defense Force has posted some of the captured memos at its Web site, www.idf.il. The documents and intelligence provided to the Bush administration is more comprehensive.
Some of the documents were found in the office of Fuad Shubaki, Mr. Arafat's financial aide, who has been linked to the Palestinian effort to buy arms from Iran. Israel said the papers also bear his handwriting.
According to Israeli officials, the documents show that Mr. Arafat and his deputy approved cash payments to Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades.
One appealed for financial assistance on stationery bearing the name of that group was dated Sept. 16, just five days after the terrorist attacks in the United States. It requested money for electrical components and chemicals for making bombs. Suicide bombings by the Aksa Brigades began in November.
Another memo on Aksa Brigades stationery that Israeli officials said was found in Mr. Shubaki's office asked for money to set up a bomb factory. Israeli officials said they do know if the factory was ever built but say they have found 15 bomb factories.
Israeli military officials also said that they found a receipt in Mr. Shubaki's office for 20 rocket-propelled grenades, which have long been a favored weapon of Arab militants. The Palestinians are not allowed to have such weapons under the 1993 Oslo peace accord, and the Israeli military suspects that Mr. Shubaki helped smuggle them in.
According to the Israeli military, Mr. Arafat oversees two parallel and often competing structures, each with its own funding, chain of command and capability for directing bombing attacks. The cells that carry out the attacks themselves are located in eight regions: Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, Qalqilya and Gaza.
According to an analysis by the Israeli military, the militant command structure in Tulkarm works like this: Marwan Barghouti, who is the head of the Fatah organization in the West Bank, is the head of one branch. He oversees Nasser Awis, who is based in Nablus and is in touch with all of the terrorist cells there.
Mr. Awis, in turn, gave instructions to Raed al-Karmi, who was in charge of an operation in Tulkarm. Mr. Karmi, who admitted taking part in attacks on Israeli settlers and soldiers, was killed in a bombing that the Palestinians blame on the Israelis. He has been replaced by Mansour Sharim, the Israelis say.
"We can see with these letters how it goes," the Israeli military official said. "It goes from Raed al-Karmi to Barghouti, asking for money. Barghouti gives the letter to Arafat. Arafat signs it. Then it is given to Shubaki, probably for somebody to give the money."
The Israelis said that there is parallel structure, which is headed by Hussein al-Sheikh. He works with Tawfik Tirawi, who controls Ziad Daas, the chief militant for this branch in the Tulkarm area.
"These two groups cooperate and even compete with each other to some extent," the Israeli military official said. "And Arafat knows both of them and finances both of them and keeps in touch with both of them."
Much of the Israelis' evidence on Tulkarm is based on a captured Feb. 5 memo to Mr. Tirawi. That memo notes that there are about between 15 to 20 militants in the area. Most, the memo says, have their own assault rifles.
"Additionally, contributions were raised and financial aid obtained from the honorable president," it said, referring to Mr. Arafat.
According to the memo provided by the Israelis, the militants are divided into two squads: one that is willing only to fight inside Palestinian areas and another squad that is prepared to conduct operations, including suicide bombings, "even in the depth of Israel." A January suicide bombing in Hadera, notes the memo shown by the Israelis, was carried out "to avenge the death of the martyr Raed al-Karmi."
The memo also suggests a link between Mr. Rajoub's preventive security office and terrorist attacks. It states that Akrama Thabet, who has served in the office's headquarters, has provided some unspecified support and helped coordinate the activities of one terrorist cell on behalf of Mr. Rajoub. The Israeli military official also said that Mr. Rajoub has a close relationship with Mr. Barghouti, whom the Israelis assert is the leader of one the factions responsible for suicide bombings.
Some American officials described Mr. Rajoub as a moderate. They said that the Israelis have not made a convincing case in the past that he is linked to terrorism. By attacking Mr. Rajoub's headquarters and suggesting that he is linked to bombing attacks, these American officials say, the Israelis are simply undermining a moderate who might help them forge a political settlement and curtail bombings in the future.
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